Topdog Underdog”

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 7-2020 Scenic Design for “Topdog Underdog” Austin Aschbrenner University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Other Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Citation Aschbrenner, A. (2020). Scenic Design for “Topdog Underdog”. Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3761 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Scenic Design for “Topdog Underdog” A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment Of the requirements of the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Scenic Design by Austin Aschbrenner Northwestern State University Bachelor of Science in Theatre, 2016 July 2020 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. Michael Riha, M.F.A. Thesis Director Weston Wilkerson, M.F.A. Shawn Irish, M.F.A. Committee Member Committee Member Abstract The 2019 production of Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks at the University of Arkansas was produced with a guest director who, throughout the process of the production, experimented with the typical perception of the Pulitzer Prize winning play and added conceptual spins to help open the eyes of the mostly small town and rural based audience. This thesis will explore the various elements of this particular production and which of these elements contributed to exploring the depths of Topdog/Underdog. This document will analyze the design process of the University of Arkansas’s production of Topdog/Underdog, and will analyze specific design choices which were chosen to engender a specific audience response based upon observed audience commentary. Acknowledgements To my family, even though we are apart through support and love we are always together. To my girlfriend, who supported me throughout every process of the last three years. To Kevin, you helped me so much through the process of Topdog/Underdog and continue to help me today. I cherish having had the chance to meet you and I am so glad to call you a friend. To Mr. C and Mrs. Ingle, you both are the foundation on which everything I’ve achieved is built on. I cannot thank you enough. To Brandon and Kathleen, we stuck to it and we made it together. Thanks for always being there for me throughout our various endeavors. To all the faculty and staff at the University of Arkansas Department of Theatre, for putting up with me and constantly helping focus my energy on productivity and creativity. ©2020 by Austin Aschbrenner All Rights Reserved Table of Contents I. Introduction - …Page 1 II. The Play - …Page 2 A. Synopsis- …Page 2 B. Historical Context of the Play- …Page 3 C. Analysis- …Page 4 III. The Process – …Page 9 A. Early Conversations with the Director- …Page 9 B. Design Meetings and Approach- …Page 12 C. Implementation- …Page 17 IV. Reflection – …Page 21 A. Audience Reaction- …Page 22 B. Personal Thoughts- …Page 25 V. Bibliography – …Page 28 VI. Appendices – …Page 29 Appendix A: Research Images …Page 29 Appendix B: Scenographic Breakdown …Page 40 Appendix C: Early Sketches …Page 44 Appendix D: White Model …Page 46 Appendix E: Digital 3-D Model …Page 51 Appendix F: Digital Rendering …Page 53 Appendix G: Final Drafting Packet …Page 54 Appendix H: Paint Elevation …Page 60 Appendix I: Production Photos …Page 61 I. Introduction Topdog/Underdog is a landmark play in the world of theatre. It was the play that led Suzan- Lori Parks to become the first African American Woman in history to win a Pulitzer Prize in drama. Working on it was a fantastic journey that challenged me as a scenic designer and more importantly as an artist overall. As the Scenic Designer, my job is to conceptualize a space in which the characters make sense and can evolve. This must be done subtlety so as not to become the primary focus but should be a part of the overall presentation. This is especially important with a play like Topdog/Underdog due to its intense and important messages including race, oppression, and classism. I believed that analyzing the intricacies of each scene in the form of a scenographic breakdown (Appendix B) was the best way to help track the action and time of day in the show was the best way to follow the script as the design team moved through it. After making my scenographic breakdown and creating some image boards and sketches, I participated in a series of design meetings with my colleagues on the design team. These meetings are a means to aid the director and all the designers in both collaboration and communication. Having all of the designers in the same room with the director can help inspire creative ideas and aid in the communicative process. During the meeting process, I was able to create a white model, a digital 3D model, and a drafting packet, which became the template from which we used to build the show. (Appendix G) This play contains an ample amount of metaphor and symbolic representation and therefore I tried to reflect that in the scenic design as well. I was extremely pleased with this process as a whole as well as the final outcome of my design for this production. 1 II. The Play A. Synopsis Topdog/Underdog is a play about Lincoln and Booth, two African American brothers who have been brought up and molded by various forms of pressure and racism rooted in American society. Together they face poverty, relationship problems, racism, and a shared and troubled upbringing. Lincoln is temporarily staying in his younger brother Booth's rooming house room. The two brothers both survive only n Lincoln's meager paycheck from an arcade where Lincoln works as an Abraham Lincoln impersonator. Booth is desperately trying to learn how to play three-card monte in an effort to earn a living. He keeps trying to persuade Lincoln to teach him to play three-card monte because Lincoln himself has a dark past when she chose to use the street game as a con to provide for himself and his brother. After the death of one of his crew members, Lincoln swore off the game forever and therefore refuses to help Booth learn the trade. Booth is constantly trying to impress his girlfriend Grace with an assortment of shoplifted goods; he excels at thievery of this kind. He also often will discuss he and Grace’s sexual engagements with his brother. Lincoln returns this gesture with small conversations about how his ex-wife kicked him out. A lot of the character's actions through the play are fueled by either on-going stress or past stress with these women. In Booth's case the, various stressors in his life coupled with an un-fulfilled sense of his existence leads him to kill Grace and Lincoln. Booth and Lincoln's parents left them at a young age. Their mother left first, leaving Booth five hundred dollars in a nylon stocking, and she told him not to tell his brother about the money. Two years later, their father left leaving Lincoln the same amount of money and relayed to him a similar message about not letting Booth know he had it. However, Booth held on to his 2 "inheritance" and Lincoln spent his. Their parents' departure and advice for them to stick together “She told me to look out for you. I told her I was the little brother and the big brother should look out after the little brother. She just said it again.” (Parks Page 19) left Lincoln to look after Booth and led him to his life of a con man. Lincoln did not have many skills when his parents left, and he discovered from people who were in the streets with him that he could make a decent living playing cards. Lincoln ends up losing his job at the arcade to a wax dummy. He plays three-card monte again, to reclaim his success after being fired from his job and comes home with an ample amount of winnings. He returns home to find Booth claiming he has proposed to Grace. Three- card monte is discussed along with the money won from the day, and Booth's inheritance gets put on the line. Lincoln ends up winning the game of three-card monte, and this becomes the straw that breaks the camel’s back for Booth which results in Booth's eventual mental breakdown and loss of his inheritance. Booth then reveals that he shot Grace and dares Lincoln to cut open the stocking containing the money. Lincoln tries to give it back as Booth forces him to cut it open. As Lincoln makes the cut Booth shoots him. Booth breaks down over the body of his now-dead brother. B. Historical Context Written by Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog debuted at the Public Theatre on July 26th, 2001. The play starred Don Cheadle and Jeffrey Wright as Booth and Lincoln respectively. It was directed by George C. Wolfe, best known at the time for his Tony award-winning production of Angels in America: Millennium Approaches. The Off-Broadway run concluded on September 2, 2001, and moved to the Ambassador Theatre. It then opened there on Broadway on 3 April 7, 2002, and ran through August 11th that same year. Of this production, Ben Brantley of the New York Times wrote: Topdog/Underdog considers nothing less than the existential traps of being African- American and male in the United States, the masks that wear the men as well as vice versa.

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